Coconut Rice Chicken Bowls

You guys probably know this, but I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. What you might not know is that when I’m not in the kitchen, I fancy myself as a runner. I’m not winning any marathons or anything, but I love to get out and go for a long (and mostly slow) jog a few times a week.

One of my favorite recovery drinks is coconut water and I am really excited to get the opportunity to partner with O.N.E. Coconut Water. They are encouraging people to power their O.N.E. thing and for me that’s sometimes running, but always cooking!

I think people often forget that coconut water can be a great recipe ingredient. I’ve used it in the past for my coconut coffee smoothie which is a great way to wake up, but you can also use coconut water to lighten up savory dishes.

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Instead of coconut milk, I love to cook rice with coconut water for a light, but still really flavorful rice base for these Coconut Rice Chicken Bowls!

Directions

For Coconut Rice: 1) Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil to a large pot over medium heat. When melted, add diced yellow onion and cook for a few minutes until soft. Then add ground coriander and paprika. Cook together for 30 seconds.

2) Add in rinsed white rice and stir to combine. Then pour in coconut water and 1 cup water. Stir rice, cover, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, turn heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes. Check rice after 10 minutes. It might need a few more minutes. If it’s really dry, add more water in 1/2 cup batches.

When rice has absorbed all the liquid and is tender, remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Season with a pinch of salt.

For Chicken Bowls: 1) Whisk together rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and chili sauce in a small bowl.

2) In a large skillet, add coconut oil over medium-high heat. Once melted, add diced chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through 6-7 minutes. Then add ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and snow peas. If pan is really dry, add a bit more oil. Stir fry for a few minutes until snap peas are bright green.

3) Stir in sauce mixture and turn heat down to low. Cook for a few minutes until sauce thickens on the chicken.

Spoon coconut rice into bowls and top with sticky chicken topping. Garnish with lime wedges and fresh cilantro!

Coconut Rice Chicken Bowls

I’ll be honest: The rice is really the star of this show! You could serve almost anything on top of it and would be great. It’s just a great base recipe.

It starts with some diced onion in coconut oil (or any oil that you prefer) and a good amount of paprika and ground coriander. The ground coriander goes so nicely with coconut. Don’t skip it!

The start of great rice.

Once that have cooked down for a few minutes (over medium heat), add your rinsed and drained rice to the pot. This is almost like making a risotto at this point.

Kind of like risotto.

Mix the rice in with the other stuff and then add your O.N.E. coconut water! You’ll need a little extra liquid so you’ll want to add some tap water as well. You need roughly 3 cups of water for the rice ultimately (assuming you are using a long grain white rice).

Already smellin good.

Bring this all to a simmer, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Check the rice and it might need a few more minutes before the liquid is absorbed. Depending on the exact rice you use, you might need to stir in more liquid if the rice is dry at all.

At the end of the day, the rice should be tender and have a beautiful color and smell and the liquid should be absorbed. Then just fluff it with a fork and season it with a little salt.

YES.

The Sticky Chicken Topping

Like I said, you could really top this coconut rice with almost anything, but I made a quick chicken and snap pea topper for it.

I started with coconut oil again over medium-high heat and then added some diced chicken and let that cook. When the chicken was cooked, I added some garlic, ginger, and snap peas!

Honestly, it’s great without any sauce!

Love this combo.

But, I love myself a good sticky sauce so I whisked together some rice vinegar with sugar, soy sauce, and sriracha and poured that into the skillet. After a minute or two it turns into a delicious sauce.

Saucy.

Spoon that over your light coconut rice and garnish it with a lime wedge and some cilantro and you’re in business!

That was a really really big plug for O.N.E., more than I’ve ever seen from you, I think :-/
Either way, love coconut water, and adding to rice is a great idea. I just added turkey stock instead of water to my last rice batch, and this is another great water substitute!

Hmm… it really should thicken okay b/c of the sugar but if you try it again you can make a quick slurry with 1/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch whisked together. Stir that into the sauce and it’ll thicken right up for sure!

Great recipe! Fiance` and I made it last night but we subbed out the chicken for shrimp – it was phenomenal.
Here is our tip for thickening up the sauce, without cornstarch:
Half a cup of water less for the rice – but add half a bottle more coconut water, 2 table spoons of coconut oil for the “sticky chicken”(or shrimp) section and 3 table spoons of sriracha(if you can handle it). You may still want a little starch to thicken it up but it worked well for us.

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Love Your Leftovers

Love Your Leftovers includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert options as well as a wide range of cuisines. Each main dish includes eight to ten creative recipes for leftovers. With chapters on kitchen and pantry basics and Meal Planning 101, as well as a helpful index of vegetarian and thirty-minute meals. This isn’t just a book you might like, it’s the book your kitchen (and family) need.